Category: Review

Cybersix

  By

★★★½
“Don’t cry for me, Argentina…!”

In the 90s, Warner Brothers’ animated Batman series received a lot of praise for its artful animation and style. Not surprisingly, a lot of studios and channels tried to jump on the bandwagon and create their own dark, classy animated show. Disney gave us Gargoyles, French Canal+ did The Legend of Calamity Jane, and the Vancouver-based Network of Animation (NoA) produced this series. It was shown on Teletoon in Canada and – for a short time, though not the entire series – on Fox Kids in America. What is most interesting, is the back story of the show, largely forgotten by almost everyone. Though thanks to people seeing it at the time and remembering it, Cybersix has become a cult show. It may be due to its rarity, since you couldn’t see it for a very long time. It was not available on DVD until fifteen years after its original broadcast – a similar fate to the animated Calamity Jane show.

Cybersix originally started as a black-and-white strip, written for an Italian comic magazine from 1991 to 1999. Interestingly, it was developed by two Argentinian comic book creators, Carlos Trillo (story) and Carlos Meglia, both now deceased (Trillo died in 2011, Meglia in 2008). They grew up in Argentinian comic book subculture during the dictatorship, where comics very much had a subversive, underground status. Very often these hand-made, self-distributed comics were political, and didn’t hold back in their depictions. I’m no expert on Argentinean comic book history, but I imagine nothing like the American Comic Code Authority existed in South America. Voicing critical opinions under such an oppressive regime was probably very dangerous, and the no-holds barred approach comic artists grew up with, remained after the end of the military dictatorship.

Therefore, it’s not too astonishing the Cybersix comic reflected that attitude, with its wild, very often over-the-top depiction of violence, nudity and sexuality. These comics have still never been translated for the English-speaking world: those interested will have to buy them in French, Italian or Spanish. It should be noted that not all of the series are available in all of these languages. Having read one of the volumes in French years ago, my judgement on it was that, story-wise, it is quite a strange and jumbled mess. There are scenes of gratuitous nudity and sex, and though not the main focus, they’re definitely not recommended reading for teenagers. It lacks a clear goal, with the plot often meandering, and scenes lack cohesion. Also, José, the main antagonist in that volume is an annoying and disgusting teen character. It appeared to my – admittedly very European – eyes, as a bit crude and short on narrative focus. It is neither like an American superhero saga, nor the typical Franco-Belgian fun comics, but something of its own. Of course, that is my judgement based on one single volume. Maybe I just picked the one rotten apple!

I would like to stress that these comics are not “violence-porn”, as I would personally categorize TV series like Game of Thrones. But they are definitely for a more adult readership, albeit with a bit of a juvenile mind. The drawings of a city that definitely reflect Argentina, and Cybersix, clothed in black leather while running and jumping from roof to roof with a parachute-sized cloak that would make comic anti-hero Spawn blush with envy, convey a respectable artistic style. Someone compared the comics and their 90s edginess to the works of Frank Miller (Sin City, 300), and it is not a bad fit. Actually, I’d say the drawings are more elegant and beautiful than Miller’s style.

The idea was born when one of the creators read an article about a couple who had invested in storing their own embryos, before dying in a plane crash. This resulted in the Australian government arguing about what should happen to the embryos. In the end they were destroyed, but the artists wondered what would happen if they were stolen instead. An idea took shape, though changes would naturally occur; originally the main character was supposed to be a police officer, not a superhero. The comic must have enjoyed some popularity in Argentina, since it was made into a very short-lived live-action TV series in 1995, but had such low ratings it was cancelled after only a few episodes. It is believed lost, though you can find at least one episode online. It’s not really cause to mourn, since those who did see it, generally agree how bad it was.

Nevertheless, the comic was lucky enough to get another adaptation in 1999. As Canadian producers were looking for something to turn into an animated show, their attention was drawn to this work. The show was animated by Japanese studio TMS-Kyokuichi, making this essentially a Canadian-Japanese co-produced adaptation, of an Italian comic, written and drawn by two Argentinians. What a culture mix! But sometimes a lot of different influences are not detrimental to the final product. A big influence on the story is the historical German connection to Argentina. Back in the 19th century there were already economical, and later ideological, ties between the two countries. These became stronger after WWII, when both Nazis and Jewish Germans fled to Argentina. This history is rarely addressed in the media, but the historical legacy here, influences and is referred to by the comic, and therefore the animated show.

The story itself: In the fictive city of Meridiana lives superheroine Cybersix, an escaped experiment of Nazi scientist Von Reichter (though this is never directly stated in the animated show). Von Reichter has created his own Frankenstein-like creations for… nefarious purposes, I guess. These beings must obey his orders, and he uses them to hunt Cybersix, the last survivor of a failed project. But he never does his own dirty work, instead having his own cruel teen clone, José, execute his orders via his soulless monsters: tall, ugly and dumb men called Fixed Ideas. While she doesn’t enjoy it, Cybersix relies on killing these man-monsters, as she needs their life-force for sustenance. When she kills one, the body vanishes, leaving only a small test tube containing a green liquid that she consumes.

This is different – as are many other things – from the comic, where she sucks the life-force out of the bodies, Dracula-style. I guess this would have caused quite a stir in a show supposedly for a younger audience. By day, she poses as a friendly school teacher under the name of Adrian Seidelman, working with friendly colleague and possible love interest, Lucas. At night she has to fight the schemes of Von Reichter and his cohorts, supported by her “brother” – another experiment, where the mind of a child was transferred into the body of a black panther. Though she is faced with an existential dilemma. She has to stop Von Reichter, but if she kills him, she will lose all further “sustenance” and can never become a normal human. Her success would also mean her death.

Unsurprisingly, the more controversial elements of the comics fell to the wayside – namely the violence, nudity and sex. The comic was no stranger to the depiction of sexual abuse and rape, and featured teen clone José sleeping with women and showing a sadistic streak. In no way would this ever have been allowed in an animated series for a much younger audience. An interesting sidenote is that LGBTQ-groups try nowadays to claim Cybersix as one of their own, calling her “the first transgender superhero”. I personally disagree, though understand where this comes from. A queer audience can interpret the show as a metaphor for their own situation, especially given that in the ’90s, non-heteronormative lifestyles were not part of the public discussion, as happens today ad nauseam and ad infinitum.

I think this idea was fueled by the fact that Cybersix – very much a beautiful female, who in the comics sleeps with Lucas and gives birth to a child – lives her cover identity as a male teacher. The explanation is not given in the animated show but can be found in the comics – which few read due to the language issues discussed above. While on the run, Cybersix found the identity card of one Adrian Seidelman, who looked similar to her and had died in a car crash. It’s a simpler, more logical explanation than declaring her transgender. Though, if people want to see certain narratives they can see them. She falls in love with school colleague Lucas, a biology teacher and reporter – obviously you need two jobs in Meridiana to make a living. He is good friends with her as Adrian, but she doesn’t dare reveal to him her true identity. Cybersix fears she will never find someone who loves her for what she is – a human experiment with superpowers, depending on a green liquid. 

Yes, if you really, really want to, you can find a queer perspective here. But let’s be honest. Isn’t it the same thing Superman/Clark Kent or Batman/Bruce Wayne have done since the dawn of superhero comic books? Also, her Adrian Seidelman persona looks very Clark Kent-ish to me. Though there are several influences in her design. Cybersix’s cape and large hat remind me of classic pulp hero “The Shadow” – but maybe a bit of Carmen Sandiego, too! When she stands on a rooftop overlooking the city, the similarity to images of Batman cannot be denied, and her body costume makes me think of Catwoman.

The show ends on an open note, though nevertheless feels like it achieves some closure. While Von Reichter has been killed by his own monsters, his evil young clone José has survived. At the same time while Cybersix is believed to be dead, Lucas sees a light in her window, indicating that she has survived. Originally, there was a commission for two seasons, but the Canadian and Japanese production studios had different opinions on how to continue the series. The Canadian side wanted it darker, closer to the original comic, while the Japanese side preferred a lighter approach and more humour. Both influences can be found in the show and I dare say that the combination is what makes it appealing for those who like it. I can definitely see a similarity to the Batman animated show. But here, it was a quarrel over the direction the show should take in season two that broke the camel’s back.

It’s a pity, because the potential can be seen and felt throughout the series, though some episodes are weaker than others. Animation-wise the series is well done, and even impressive in the action scenes. Unfortunately, Cybersix was an unknown character, rather than a famous IP like Batman or Superman. So, it’s possible the TV ratings were underwhelming when the show was released. One final point of note: Trillo and Meglio filed a lawsuit against James Cameron – yes, that James Cameron – as they believed his TV show Dark Angel, with Jessica Alba playing a genetically enhanced female super soldier, had plagiarized their show. As they lacked the financial backing to maintain the lawsuit, they had to let it drop. Since both artists are no longer with us, and Cameron will probably not volunteer to talk about this issue, we will never know the truth.

For the show as a whole, I would say it is worth a watch. The basic plot was maybe ahead of its time – but then, considering Dark Angel, maybe not at all that much? The show is entertaining, though it’s mostly a “monster-of-the-week” show, a format at that time already successful in The X-Files. But female superheroes as the main character of an animated show were not common at that time, giving the series a rarity bonus, together with its unusual combination of very different national influences. Overall, it’s a good animated series, and deserves to be rediscovered by a new generation in the same way as Gargoyles or The Legend of Calamity Jane.

Creators: Carlos Meglia and Carlos Trillo
Star (voice): Cathy Weseluck, Michael Dobson, Alex Doduk, Janyse Jaud

Pretty Lethal

  By

★★★
“Nutcrackers Sweet”

To be fair, this was actually announced back in February 2023. Though that was still after Ballerina had wrapped its original shoot. At the time, the title was Ballerina Overdrive, with the cast including Lena Headey, in the role subsequently played by Thurman. Now, it comes out feeling more than a bit as if it is trailing in the wake of Ballerina. Coming out on Amazon Prime rather than theatrically doesn’t help its prestige. While nobody is going to call this great, and it’ll be forgotten as quickly as most other streaming originals, it does at least deliver on the premise. These are actual ass-kicking ballerinas, and their artistic talents are an intrinsic component of their fighting styles.

A Los Angeles ballet troupe of five young dancers, including the working-class Zoe (Apatow) and her appropriately named nemesis, Princess (Condor), are on their way to Budapest for a performance. The bus from the airport breaks down, and they end up in the Teremok Inn, an establishment run by Devora Kasimer (Thurman). When the troupe’s instructor finds out Devora is not exactly just a boutique hotelier, and then spurns the advances of local mobster Pasha Marcovic (Sipos), it does not go well for her. The ballerinas are suddenly witnesses, and therefore very much surplus to requirements. That’s the plot, more or less. Oh, there are slight wrinkles. Devora turns out to be a former ballerina herself. But it’s mostly run, hide and fight.

This is all adequately entertaining nonsense. Disbelief obviously needs to be suspended as you watch 90-pound girls beat up men twice their size. At least there is some effort put in to making them, in the main, use their agility and flexibility, rather brute force. There’s some cool stuff with razor blades, embedded into ballet slippers or taped to fingertips, which works well. Though the sequence I enjoyed most was the one where they went full corps de ballet on Pasha’s men. It’s impossible to take seriously, yet is done with so much inventive energy I was left with a big, goofy grin on my face. Shame there wasn’t more. It’s certainly lighter in tone – and likely more entertaining – than director Jewson’s previous GWG entry, Close, with Noomi Rapace.

I actually grew to like the characters more over the course of proceedings. Admittedly, this is because my initial reaction was… not good. Obvious trope followed obvious trope. But by the end, I had even warmed to the obnoxious Princess. She gets a great moment, confronting one of the henchmen, and going on a rant which begins by complaining about the wifi, drifts through reality TV, and ends up in a sad psychic story. Finally, an amusing anecdote. While we were watching this, Chris pipes up, “You know who’d be good as Devora if they remade this? Uma Thurman.” While I certainly couldn’t argue with her there, I did have to break the news, gently, that it already was Uma Thurman.

Dir: Vicky Jewson
Star: Iris Apatow, Lana Condor, Uma Thurman, Tamás Szabó Sipos

Line of Fire

  By

★★★½
“Australia, American style.”

Although this is very much an Australian movie, in both setting and characters, it feels quite a bit out of place there. We begin with a school shooting in which twenty students are killed. It would be utterly unprecedented there. According to this article, Australia’s most recent school shooting occurred back in May 7, 2012. It adds, “No one was injured.” Well, that’s kinda weak, isn’t it? I was reliably informed, everything in Australia is trying to kill you. Anyway, ex-soldier and police officer Samantha Romans (Garner) is first on the scene here, but fails to engage the active shooter. Her teenage son, Tim, is one of the victims. Inevitably, questions are asked of her in the aftermath. Not least by ambitious journalist Jamie Connard (Tolj), who negotiates a lucrative contract to write about events.

One condition: she needs to get Romans to tell her side of events. Initially, the cop won’t speak to the writer, so Connard ups the ante, posting an online video vilifying Romans and blaming her for Tim’s death. The journo’s husband, Greg (Cousins) is appalled, and asks her to stop. But ambition and greed overpower her common sense, especially because the tactic seems to have worked, Samantha agreeing to meet Jamie. Except… the policewoman doesn’t show up, and when the scribe returns home, she finds Greg and their daughter missing. She soon gets a phone-call from Samantha, and has to begin a hunt which is intended to push to and beyond her mental limits.

And, perhaps, teach her something about what her prospective subject went through on that traumatic day at the school. For in certain ways, it feels a little bit like a sister to The Hitcher, with someone having their life utterly upended by an unstoppable force. Trauma as twisted, Nietzschean life-coaching, if you will: what does not kill you, makes you stronger. The main difference is, there, the victim was picked for no particular reason. Here, it’s very specific, and to be honest, Connard does seem like a bit of a bitch, particularly in the early going. But by the end, she and her family have been put completely through the wringer, and it’s hard not to empathize with them.

However, you also gradually learn about Romans’ past as well, although we know early on she has lost her husband and another child, before Tim. The specifics, beyond that, are likely grimmer than you would have expected, or even imagined in a nightmare, to the point I wondered how she could have continued to function. While the two lead performances are very good, it does have some pacing issues. Where The Hitcher was absolutely relentless, this does on occasion grind to a halt and become static and chatty. In the main though, it remains a strong, if extremely dark, thriller, pitting two women against each other, both of whom are not the kind of characters you see often on-screen. 

Dir: Scott Major
Star: Nadine Garner, Samantha Tolj, Brett Cousins, Damian Walshe-Howling
a.k.a. Darklands

The Old Woman with the Knife

  By

★★★
“Growing old (dis)gracefully.”

This is certainly something different. It begins in 1975, when a young woman fights off and kills a wannabe rapist. This causes her to be recruited by an underground assassination group, who specialize in what they call “pest control”. This means eliminating, with extreme prejudice, those who are considered detrimental to society. Decades later, she is Hornclaw (Lee), the matriarch of the organization. But times are changing, and not necessarily for the better. Hornclaw is, inevitably, older and age is taking its toll, with her health beginning to fail. The group is wanting to change direction, and be more profit oriented, rather than socially aware. And a new, young recruit, Bullfight (S-c Kim), has little patience for the old mistress.

I really liked the heroine here. While there have been plenty of female assassin movies, their protagonist are inevitably young and pretty. I blame Luc Besson. :) While older, more grizzled and weatherworn action heroes exist – think Liam Neeson – action heroines aren’t typically given the same grace. Contrast, say, Kate Beckinsale (now in her fifties) in Wildcat. Still very nice. Not to say that Lee is ugly. There’s a “silver fox” thing going on that is attractive; see also, Helen Mirren. But the actress has wrinkles, with a face that has been lived-in. You just don’t see that in our genre; the ability to grow old visibly is something largely reserved for men. I simply wish the film had done a bit more with it.

Or maybe it does too much. It certainly feels like there’s an excess of sub-plots, to the point that it feels tricky to keep track of them. Sometimes, subtlety is not exactly the movie’s strong suit either. One of those threads involves Hornclaw rescuing a stray dog. The canine – eventually named Braveheart, which amused me far more than it should – is too blatant and obviously a metaphor for Hornclaw. When she takes him to the vet, he specifically tells her, “It’s so cruel to be abandoned because you’re old and sick.” I rolled my eyes. Similarly, we get conversations about produce and knives, recycling the idea you shouldn’t reject something based on its appearance. The fruit in question ends up ruthlessly crushed by Bullfight, if the metaphor wasn’t clear enough.

There are also the whole “This is my last job” and “Awkward witness” plot points, now such clichés it’s almost refreshing to see them used again. Almost. However, Lee is a strong enough actress – she has a long, well-regarded history of non-action performances – the film is able to survive. The action is well-staged too, with Hornclaw appearing to take some wince-inducing punishment, which borders on elder abuse. [While there’s clearly some stunt doubling going on, it’s done well enough to be largely unobvious] I might actually have preferred to have seen a film which coloured in the space between Hornclaw becoming an assassin, and the experienced to the point of jaded veteran we see, for the most part, here. Yet the original spin at its core is enough to counterbalance the formulaic approach in other elements. 

Dir: Kyu-dong Min
Star: Hye-young Lee, Sung-cheol Kim, Woo-jin Yeon, Mu-yeol Kim

Exquisite Bodyguard

  By

★★★
“Three’s Company”

I’m going with the title by which this is generally known. Not to be confused with the title given on the print – Female Bodyguards – or the one in the subtitles, Perfect Bodyguard. The Chinese title, per Google Translate is, The Stunning Bodyguard. Definitely something about bodyguards then: the rest is up to you. This is another one of these direct-to-streaming movies coming out of China, which I must confess to enjoying of late. They are, in many ways, the spiritual descendants of the Hong Kong GWG entries. This poster looks particularly like Heroic Trio. Though I have yet to see anyone in these films at the level of Moon Lee or Cynthia Khan – indeed, I doubt I recognise anyone. Still, thanks to Denis for pointing me in the direction of this specific one.

As is sadly often the case, the presentation was less than whelming. In particular, a good chunk of the audio track had been replaced with generic stock footage, which may have strayed in from a video game, with just that and the dialogue present. This was particularly unimpressive during the opening sequence, which is a large-scale gun battle, definitely diluting its impact. This issue persisted throughout, though at least it didn’t impact understanding of the plot. Jiang Nanying (Gab), Hu Lififei and Ma Yanni (Liu) are three bodyguards. On a mission to protect pharmaceutical scientist Huang Jiadong (Lun), Ma is killed, but Jiang ends up marrying Huang. Except, he gets kidnapped at their wedding. 

Three years (!) later, Jiang is in for a couple of shocks. Not only is Ma not dead, she is now working for the people on whose behalf Huang has been working since his matrimonial abduction. He’s beginning to suffer second thoughts, because his boss is pushing for experimentation on human subjects. I should mention this all takes place around pre-war Shanghai, with Huang a specialist in finding an artificial alternative to opium. Needless to say, his employers are less than respectable. Jiang ends up breaking into the compound, and tries to persuade her husband to leave. Naturally, it isn’t going to be quite as easy as that, despite Ma also having qualms about her current choice of employment. 

There’s fifteen minutes of fights and things getting blown up real good at the start, and round about the same at the end. This is great stuff, a mix of hand-to-hand combat and gun-fu, which is as good as anything you’ll see out of far bigger, Western, action heroine movies. I dunno if the actresses concerned are doing their own stunts. I can’t say it matters much. Running a crisp 71 minutes, the middle section is a little dull in parts. The script is not apparently interested in doing much except hitting the obligatory points, and you can mostly see these coming. Audio issues aside, it looks slick, and not particularly low-budget. I’ve a feeling I’ll be reviewing more Chinese imports in the future. 

Dir: Yuan Guangan
Star: Tingting Gan, Wang Hui, Lun Bo Ke, Liu Sasa

Behind Blue Eyes, by Anna Mocikat

  By

Literary rating: ★★★
Kick-butt quotient: ☆☆☆½

The set-up here is an interesting one. The world is now entirely ruled by three corporations. The Olympias Conglomerate governs the Americas; TogbuaXiang controls Asia; and Rosprom holds sway over Europe. Certainly under Olympias, life is not terrible, with the company providing for all your needs. However, the cost is a total lack of freedom, with any attempt to live outside the control of Olympias brutally suppressed. In charge of doing that are its feared Guardian Angels, who are trained from birth to be ruthless killers, augmented by cybernetic implants to be faster and stronger than any human, and absolutely obedient to their commanding officer, Metatron.

Or not. Because where would the fun and dramatic conflict be in that? Specifically, Nephilim, who is being groomed by Metatron to become one of his inner cabal, the Archangels. Except, after a mission to exterminate a dissident encampment, her programming seems to be breaking down, and she is having increasing doubts about which side she is on. She’s even “dreaming”, something unheard of for Angels. A friendly tech (who basically has a crush on Nephilim) implants her with a device which allows some autonomy from the perpetual surveillance under which Guardian Angels operate. While on her nightly excursions, she meets Jake, who opens her eyes to the realities of what she is doing. Nephilim decides to rebel again Metatron and everything she has done her whole life. 

It feels as if Mocikat was a big fan of Equilbrium, the similarly dystopian film in which a highly-skilled and savage enforcer (played by Christian Bale) rebelled against his conditioning, after having his eyes opened to the totalitarian regime for which he works. This is fine, because I’m a big fan of it as well. But it does bring a certain predictability to proceedings, almost from the start. I’d have been more impressed if Nephilim had not rediscovered her individuality – or had done so, and instead remained enthusiastically carrying out the orders of Metatron and Olympias. The only real wrinkle here is that Jake has secrets of his own, and even these are not particularly significant in the final analysis. 

However, while it’s not hard to work out the final destination, the journey to get there still made for a decent read. The world here is developed nicely, and you are left wondering how much liberty people would be willing to give up, in exchange for security and comfort [the answer, I suspect, is a great deal] Nephilim certainly proves capable of taking on just about anything thrown at her, with her 60% artificial body, and the action scenes are crisp and well-described. At almost five hundred pages, it does cram a lot in, but never felt particularly padded. The ending feels like it may push the author into less predictable territory, and I would say that’s likely for the best. Moderately curious as to where it might go.  

Author: Anna Mocikat
Publisher: Self published, available through Amazon, both as a paperback and an e-book
Book 1 of 7 in the Behind Blue Eyes series.

Strong Hawk: My Sister’s Keeper

  By

★½
“Don’t start anything you can’t finish.”

One of the potential pitfalls of making a low-budget film, is assuming you’ll get the chance to make another. It’s different with a book, where the production (or not) is entirely in your own hands. But if you opt to create your film on the basis there will be a franchise, and there isn’t… You’re likely to leave the audience severely peeved. That’s where we find ourselves here. This came out in March 2022. Three and a half years later, I could find no meaningful evidence of the sequel this desperately needs. As a result, all the set-up which is carried out in this initial installment, leaving precious little time for much else, appears likely to be wasted. 

Things begin fifteen years ago, when there is a battle for supremacy between various families, whose members possess superpowers. Eva Hawk and her husband are lost in one battle. To protect her daughters, they have their memories scrubbed so they have no knowledge of their abilities and are adopted out. Fast forward to the present day, and that conditioning is breaking down, with Elegance (Anderson), Vengeance (Mora) and Liv (Evans) being trained to use their talents for good, along with their cousin Keisha. The aim is for them to take on Ms. Brimstone (Dervin), the leader of the clan responsible for what happened to their parents. Needless to say, she’s not happy about it, and sends her minions to make sure the Strong sisters cease troubling her. 

You have to wait a very long time for anything of much significance to happen, after the initial flashback to previous events. Character introductions (and there’s no shortage of them), the trio discovering that they have abilities, the ramifications of that, training of their abilities by their Uncle Al, encounters with minor bad guys to hone their powers, etc… It’s really only in the final fifteen minutes or so, that we get to the expected confrontation with the Brimstone clan. And when it shows up, it’s nothing special. The superpowers appear to have been consciously chosen for the cheapness with which they can be captured on film, e.g. mind control/reading, telekinesis (basically limited to people flinging themselves about), computer hacking, etc. 

I do feel slightly bad about the low rating here, because it does feel like the makers’ hearts are in the right place, and there are occasional moments where it feels like things work. However, some of the performances here would not pass muster in community theatre of the least discerning kind, and the story is several revisions short of working. Most glaringly, one person is not killed by the Brimstone clan when they have both every opportunity to do so, and no apparent reason to keep them alive. It’s plot manipulation of the most basic kind, and was the point at which I stopped being able to give this the benefit of the doubt, and resorted to energetic eye-rolling instead. 

Dir: Ramasses Head
Star: Kara Anderson, Cash Evans, Sierra Mora, Keely Dervin

She Goes to War

  By

★★★
“S_e _o_s t_ W_r”

If the above doesn’t make much sense, there’s good reason for that. Things tend not to, when half of them are removed. Albeit for reasons that are largely not the makers’ fault, because this film only partially survives. Originally released in 1929 with a running-time of 87 minutes, the only version that remains is one re-released about a decade later, which has been chopped down to under fifty minutes, including new opening captions which comment on the looming second global conflict. What remains still packs quite the wallop, as an anti-war movie which doesn’t shy from the brutal nature of World War I. It’s a part-talkie, with sounds for some of the music and dialogue, and it’s very effective when used.

For example, we hear Rosie (Rubens, in one of her last roles before dying tragically young) sing a jaunty little number called “There is a Happy Place (Far, Far Away)” to cheer up the troops. A few minutes later, she sings it again to a dying soldier, as heroine Joan Morant (Boardman) watches from the shadows, and it’s utterly heart-breaking. Joan is there for reasons which have largely been lost in the edit down to the shorter version. But they seem to be related to her boyfriend, Reggie (Burns), who has gone off to war – he has a drinking problem, though whether this is a result of the conflict is similarly hard to determine. She disguises herself as a man in order to replace him after his drinking renders him unfit for active duty. This exposes her to the true horrors of trench battles, which go far beyond what she could possible have imagined.

It’s an area where the poor quality of the surviving print work for the film, because the battle re-enactments (including some impressive model work for the nineteen twenties) almost look like grainy newsreel footage. Of course, Boardman is as convincing a man as most cross-dressing soldiers are i.e. not very. You have to accept that conceit as a given, and not ask awkward questions about things like bathroom facilities. After about the half-way point, the dialogue all but stops, and things unfold thereafter accompanied only by music and some sound effects. Some sections are truly the stuff of nightmares, such as when the soldiers have to advance, only to be driven back by the enemy unleashing a tidal wave of liquid fire against them.

Seeing the men trudging back, as the entire skyline burns behind them, or (the then newly-invented) tanks driving into the same fiery hell, are images which feels like they could easily come out of 1917, or any modern war movie. The chaos of warfare is reflected in the way it’s almost impossible to tell friend from foe, in the flames and the smoke and the near-darkness. The troops advance again, coming under withering fire from a German machine-gunner. Joan shoots him in the head, after running away from a would-be rapist (!). But it’s all too much for the poor girl, and she has to be carried back to safety by the truly heroic (and non-alcoholic) Sergeant Pike (Holland), whose entire back story was another victim of the editing. It’s all frustrating, and makes it very difficult to judge, because I’m basically watching half a movie. What there is, however, packs considerably more of a punch than I expected.

Dir: Henry King
Star: Eleanor Boardman, John Holland, Edmund Burns, Alma Rubens

Born Again Baddie

  By

★★½
“God told me to do it.”

With a running time of 155 minutes, this may be the Gone With the Wind of low-budget urban cinema. To be fair, it didn’t feel that long. To be honest, this might have been partly because it was watched in five separate chunks, over the course of about a week. However, in comparison to some entries I’ve seen, this is technically competent. Director Freddie (whose last name appears to have been abandoned) knows where to point the camera, and he has assembled a decent enough cast of actors, presumably found in the Charlotte, North Carolina area where the story unfolds. Though in this genre, “decent enough” is code for “does not generate physical pain with their performances.” 

It opens with a quote from the Bible – Jeremiah 29:11, to be precise. This will become relevant, although not for another two hours or more. Instead, we are into what is probably trope #1 for the genre: the rise-and-fall story. In this case, the heroine is Nia (Evans), whom we first meet in prison. New inmate Sheba (Abell) realizes that Nia used to be her idol, when Nia was on the outside and called ‘Baddie Bedina’. Her reputation had her dead or on the run. In reality, she’s been inside for a decade, with ten more to serve, and tells her life story to Sheba. This begins with her as a young girl, struggling to take care of her disabled father, a situation which eventually forces her into prostitution. 

She’s good enough at that to become one of the top escorts in the city, the #1 girl at the agency for whom she works, the subtly-named “Harlots”. One of her most regular and richest customers is businessman JP (Tillman), who falls for Baddie. She discovers his business is crime, and saves his life (top) when his enemies attack them at his house. After he goes to prison, for assaulting a slumlord, she takes over and expands the territory under their control – with surprising ease, it has to be said). This comes at a price, and the eventual reprisals force Baddie on the run. She hides out in a remote cabin which her father built with his friend Arthur (Massey).

Trouble follows: unsurprisingly, because she blabs her location to the head of Harlots, after about 30 seconds of chit-chat. Considering they didn’t exactly part on good company, this is incredibly dumb of her. However, she has an ally because Harold is… No, I can’t even. Let’s just say, I did not see his identity coming, and that Bible verse becomes increasingly relevant. It’s certainly unique among GWG films: whether it’s good or not is likely a sharp matter of both personal opinion, and religious conviction. Nia speaks about taking the consequences for her actions, yet there’s a (literal) get out of jail free card here. Credit to Freddie for taking a different route – I just can’t say it’s one that worked for me.

Dir: Freddie
Star: August Evans, Torri J. Tillman, Carlos Massey, Destiny Abell

The Forbidden City

  By

★★★½
“Spaghetti Eastern.”

I don’t think I’ve ever seen an Italian kung-fu movie before. To be fair, the bulk of the lifting in that department is done by Chinese actress Yaxi Liu, who was a stunt double in the live-action Mulan. She plays Xiao Mei – yes, this leads to amusing confusion about Xiao and “Ciao!” – who comes to Rome in search of her vanished sister, Yun. The triad folk who brought her from China expect Mei to work as a prostitute, and soon discover that will not be happening, in impressively violent fashion. She flees, and finds an unexpected ally in Marcello (Borello), whose restaurant owning father knew Yun, and who has similarly vanished. 

Meanwhile, behind the scenes is growing antagonism between Wang (Shanshan), who runs the local triad group, and Annibale (Giallini), in charge of the traditional organized crime in the area. Mei’s actions, attacking members of both gangs, are not helping, and things only escalate further when she and Marcello discover what happened to their missing relatives. You can probably work out the rest for yourself, providing the count of kung-fu movies seen previously is greater than about three. Just be prepared for it to take its time getting there. This runs a hundred and thirty-nine minutes, and I found that the main problem. While the basic story is solid, there’s a bunch of stuff on the edges that could be discarded, such as Wang’s rapper son. 

There are really only four genuine action scenes in this, and given the duration, that spreads them perilously thin. However, all four are really good, to the point you will certainly wish it had more. There’s Mei’s escape from migrant processing (which has a lovely sequence of kitchen-fu); a battle against two of Annibale’s minions; her frontal assault on the restaurant which serves as a front for Wang’s activities; and, finally, her one-on-one fight with Wang himself. The last named felt like it should have been the climax: instead, it takes place when there is still thirty minutes left on the clock, leaving a long, slow march to the end-credits. I’ve not seen such an over-extended ending to a movie since Return of the King. 

That said, I never particularly felt the film was boring: there’s stuff here’s which is superfluous, yet is still adequately interesting. This counts as a well-done gender reversal: typically it would be the male who shows up, looking for his sister, and is helped by a waitress. It helps that both Liu and Borello are left to act in their native tongues, communicating largely through Google Translate (!). This avoid the awkward “acting in a second language” which would otherwise have been necessary. I also enjoyed the backdrop of the Eternal City, filmed in a way which emphasizes its grandeur and history. I didn’t feel like my time – and it used up a lot of it – was wasted. Had Mainetti found reason to throw in a few more fights, this could have been a classic, rather than a well-rounded throwaway. 

Dir: Gabriele Mainetti
Star: Enrico Borello, Yaxi Liu, Marco Giallini, Chunyu Shanshan
a.k.a. Kung Fu in Rome